A Scottish and Irish surname, McLeod comes from the Gaelic terms ‘leod’ and ‘mc’ which means the son of Olaf of Norse descent. The spelling variations for McLeod include MacLeod, MacLoud, MacLeod, MacCloud and MacCleod. In northern England the McLeod surname is most populated. Those counties with the higher numbers in Durham, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Lancashire. The earliest McLeod individuals were on the Island of Lewis, on the mainland sections of Gleneig and Skye. Later all of Scotland finds the McLeod surname. Those northern regions, including Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty and Inverness-shire have many people with the McLeod name. Within the United States the early settlers with the McLeod surname lived in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. Famous: Ally McLeod (professional footballer and manager in Scotland), Haggis McLeod (English comic), Keith McLeod (professional basket ball player), Cody McLeod (professional ice hockey player from Canada), Sarah McLeod (actress from New Zealand), Roey McLeod (English singer), Fred McLeod (professional golfer), Cynthia H. McLeod (novelist), Norman Z. McLeod (movie film director), Samantha McLeod (actress from Canada) and Roshown McLeod (professional basketball player).